‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ creator thinks Marvel and DC dominance is easing

EXCLUSIVE: While Brock Purdy continues to kick ass with the San Francisco Forty-Niners, Skydance is looking to the tell story of another player that shares his nickname with Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, which is given to the last pick in the NFL draft. Sources tell Deadline, the studio is developing a movie about John Tuggle who was given the title in the 1983 NFL draft withJonathan Levine directing and Nick Santora penning the script.

McKinley Franklin editor California Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks that Taylor Swift will be a major influence in the forthcoming 2024 presidential election. “Taylor Swift stands tall and unique,” Newsom told TMZ.

EXCLUSIVE: Just ahead of the 20th anniversary of Elephant, the Palme d’Or-winning Gus Van Sant pic that marked his breakout role, actor Alex Frost has signed with Brave Artists Management for representation. At the firm launched in 2019 by talent manager Mike Gillespie, he’ll be repped by Luna Wise, who came over to BAM at the start of the year.

Chris Evans weighed in on some viral comments famed director Quentin Tarantino made about the Marvel Cinematic Universe last year.

Marvel Studios, over the course of its decade-plus history, has become a premier place for newer/indie directing talent looking to break into big-budget studio filmmaking. We saw this with folks like the Russo Brothers, James Gunn, Destin Daniel Cretton, and many more.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Chris Evans knows that critics hated “Ghosted,” his Apple original movie co-starring Ana de Armas. The film, directed by Dexter Fletcher, opened in April to abysmal reviews. It currently boasts a 26% Rotten Tomatoes score, and Variety called it “over-the-top and convoluted.” (Other critics, like IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, were even more brutal, calling the film “insultingly bland.”) In a new interview with GQ magazine, Evans admitted the film could’ve been better.

Next year (depending on when these WGA and SAG strikes get worked out), we’re expected to see Anthony Mackie finally take on the role of Captain America in a Marvel Studios film. Years after he is given the shield in “Avengers: Endgame” and after he accepts the role in “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” Mackie is finally ready to fully lead the MCU in “Captain America: Brave New World.” That said, there are still plenty of Marvel fans already anxiously awaiting the return of the previous Captain, Chris Evans.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director In a new interview with Vanity Fair, “The Marvels” director Nia DaCosta revealed she was in frequent contact with previous Marvel directors before and during the making of her MCU tentpole. She asked Chloé Zhao (“Eternals”), James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) before accepting “The Marvels” directing gig if entering the Marvel world was a good idea. “Are they going to kill me and destroy my soul? Is Kevin Feige a bad man?” she joked.

Chris Evans isn’t planning on returning to the MCU just yet.

Chris Evans is opening up about his career, as well as his personal life.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Chris Evans said in a new GQ profile that he agrees to an extent with Quentin Tarantino’s recent claim that Marvel killed the movie star. The filmmaker said last year that people go to see a Marvel movie because “Captain America is the star or Thor is the star,” and not because they want to see Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth. Evans somewhat agrees.

Paramount+ has set September 19 for the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. The film will be available to stream on the service beginning Tuesday, September 19, in the U.S. and Canada. The film’s availability in additional international Paramount+ markets will be announced at a later date.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Cowabunga! As the seventh installment in the film series, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” — which was produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg — reignited the franchise for a new generation of fans when it theaters in July.

After myriad delays and release date changes, “Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom” surfs into theaters this December. And James Wan‘s sequel marks the final film of the DCEU before new DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran start their DCU rebrand.

EXCLUSIVE: The GameStop short squeeze drama Dumb Money premiered in Toronto before hitting theaters tomorrow through Sony Pictures. I, Tonya & Lars and the Real Girl helmer Craig Gillespie directed with Paul Dano playing Keith Gill, whose impassioned YouTube stock tip on the retail store for hardcore gamers drew a rabid following during the pandemic, and would up making a multimillionaire of Gill and bankrupting a major hedge fund. Shailene Woodley, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Offerman, Sebastian Stan and America Ferrera round out the cast of the Black Bear-funded film that Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book The Anti-Social Network. The Aussie Gillespie takes us through his second fact-based underdog story, which he’s mixed with Cruella and a sequel that will start after the strike ends.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ahead of the official trailer for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” launching Sept. 14, director James Wan spoke to Entertainment Weekly about many of the rumors circulating the DC sequel. The tentpole has been plagued by reports of a disastrous post production that allegedly included three rounds of reshoots as the film got caught in the middle of the executive overhaul at DC Studios, which is now run by James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Netflix’s Pain Hustlers is a largely fictionalized tale of a very real world, and rather eye-opening, business: selling an easy fix for what ails us, even if it leads to addiction and death. Although the names have been changed, the characters invented although inspired for some by actual cases and people, the original source material is all too real. Based on a New York Times article of the same name by Evan Hughes and then developed as Hughes was turning his research into the book, “The Hard Sell: Crime And Punishment At An Opioid Start-Up”, screenwriter Wells Tower has fashioned a riveting, if disturbing scenario brought to life by director David Yates who was looking for a less fantastical tale to tell other than the Harry Potter movies he was directing. He found it, and also his way into what might be quite a shocking expose of just how far of a grift some in big pharma business and the medical community may go in order to make a buck at the expense of our own well being and health. It has its World Premiere tonight at the Toronto Film Festival.

Michaela Zee A “Murder, She Wrote” movie is in the works at Universal Pictures, with “Dumb Money” writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo and producer Amy Pascal attached, Variety has confirmed. Blum and Angelo joined the project prior to the writers strike, and will not resume their work on the screenplay until the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a deal. The “Murder, She Wrote” film is among the writers’ next projects, Blum and Angelo’s representatives shared with Variety.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Batgirl” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah told Insider while promoting their new Syrian war drama “Rebel” that watching Warner Bros.’ most recent DC tentpole, “The Flash,” was a sad experience for them. They claim they were told by studio executives that “Batgirl” would release after “The Flash,” thus continuing Michael Keaton’s revived run as Batman/Bruce Wayne. But that never panned out after Warner Bros.

and are married! The wedding took place at the acting power couple's Boston-area home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 9, per . Attendees were reportedly asked to sign NDAs and phones were “forfeited” prior to the ceremony. The guest list featured several of Evans's costars from the Marvel universe, including Robert Downey Jr.